Friday, March 16, 2018
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NCC Hosts US Delegation from Air War College in Abuja

By
Justice Okamgba
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0

A delegation from the United States of America Air War College paid a courtesy call to the Nigerian Communications Commission; the purpose of the visit is to familiarize with the workings of the Commission and identify areas of collaboration and partnership.

The delegation was received by Tony Ojobo, Director Public Affairs Department and some staff of the Commission on behalf of Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman/ CEO of NCC.

Bashir Idris, Director Project Department at NCC presented a paper to the delegation on the oversight functions of the Commission, highlighting and emphasizing the key focus areas of the Commission which include the NCC’s 8-Point Agenda and how it is tied to the Strategic Management Plan 2013-2018 of the Commission, the Vision, Mission statements as well as core values and guiding principles of the Commission, following which the floor was open for questions and further deliberations.

Josephine Amuwa, Director Policy, Competition and Economic Analysis spoke on the growth and development of the industry and its contribution to GDP; Haru Alhassan, Director New Media and Information Security Department spoke on Cyber crimes, threats and NCC’s efforts at combating these ills and providing cyber security while Austin Nwaulune, Director Spectrum Administration gave a talk on spectrum allocation, bandwidth and role of ITU.

Tony Ojobo, Director Public Affairs Department gave an in-depth and extensive talk on the challenges facing the industry ranging from Right of Way, Inadequate power supply, vandalization of telecoms Infrastructure and forex and how these impact QoS.

Furthermore, Ojobo spoke on SIM registration and its security implications, Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) and its mandate of ensuring services reach unserved and underserved areas to ensure universal service and access and, the Commission’s openness to international, national partnership and collaboration with relevant stakeholders in the industry as well as creating enabling environment for foreign direct investment influx.

Ojobo promised to convey the discussions of the visit as well as the plaque of honour to Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, the EVC/ CEO of NCC.

The US Commends Nigerians on the Use of Social Media

By
Justice Okamgba
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0

Nigeria is recognized as one of the global leaders in social media usage with about 75 percent of its population using the platform for various reasons and the US has not failed to showered encomiums.

Social media has dramatically grown and Nigeria is one of the countries that contributed to it.

Speaking on “Citizens, Government, and Technology” session at the recently concluded social media week in Lagos, the Consul-General, U.S Embassy in Nigeria, John Bray, commended the use of social media platforms in the country.

According to him, the United States of America is excited about the growth of social media in the country having played significant roles in tackling some problems in the country.

The Consul-General disclosed that it was the accurate information shared on social media that greatly helped stamped out the Ebola virus when the menace was on a rampage in the country, as well as the release of abducted Chibok girls.

He said if the social media can be completely embraced by the Nigerian government, it will greatly impact their activities.

“The social media is a powerful tool. With election drawing closer, the social media will be very useful. It can greatly help in the fight against fake news menace,” Bray stated.

Tech Trends: Focus On Digital Transformation At Social Media Week, Lagos [Video]

By
Bukky Williams
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0

On this edition of Tech Trends show on Channels Television, the News segment was a .

You can watch more on .

Airing time of Tech Trends on Channels TV can be found here.

mSurvey, Mobile-First Consumer Experience Platform, Demonstrated Live in Lagos

By
Justice Okamgba
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0

Kenya-based company, mSurvey had a live demonstration of its mobile-first consumer experience platform in Lagos last week, as it seeks to consolidate its position as Africa’s leading technology-powered customer loyalty platform.

Launched in 2012, with the mission to simplify access to high-quality data from hard-to-reach communities, mSurvey has brought hidden and offline voices into the global conversation, via in-depth, mobile phone conversations. The company has worked with brands such as Safaricom, Java House Africa, KCB (Kenya Commercial Bank), Britam Insurance, Digicel (Trinidad and Tobago)

Dr. Kenfield Griffith PhD, mSurvey CEO and co-Founder says, “We’re excited to be expanding into the Nigerian market, and capturing the daily consumer experiences of Africa’s most populous country.

In Kenya, we’ve seen many of our partner companies see an increase in sales, having used one of our products to better understand their customers. The question we are asking, and subsequently working with our clients to answer, is: how can you attract and retain your valued customers, if you don’t know how they feel about your product or service?

“Nigeria is a tantalizing market for us to expand into; we know that Nigerians like to voice their opinions and give honest feedback – but all too often, companies and brands aren’t able to capture this feedback in a meaningful or indeed tangible way, so they are unable to reconfigure their business practices to fit with their customers’ requirements.

This is where mSurvey can help – by enabling our customers to ask the right questions and speak directly to consumers, we can ensure that our clients can listen to and get really get to know their customers. In an ever competitive market, knowing how to retain your customers is critical to any company’s growth”.

Backed by international and African investors, including Safaricom’s Spark Fund, Cross Culture Ventures and Alpha Angels, mSurvey will be opening a new office and growing a Lagos-based team, who will focus on building partnerships with Nigerian MNOs and Banks, before rolling out their services namely, Voice of the Customer, Consumer Wallet and Net Promoter Score to Nigeria.

Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, with a presence in the U.S., the move into the Nigerian market signals the company’s focus on connecting brands and business-ready companies to their customers, to quantify consumer spending habits, to understand customers’ relationships with brands, and to build a detailed and segmented map of the African consumer. To-date, mSurvey has made a little over 13 million engagements in mobile conversations since its inception.

mSurvey’s platform enables a two-way conversation on any topic, with any local audience, opening a dynamic, interactive and unfiltered communication channel that delivers insights from real people, in real time.

To-date, mSurvey has worked with some of the world’s most recognisable businesses, government organisations and academic institutions. Through in-depth consumer conversations, data analytics and previously unobtainable metrics, the company is changing how businesses create interactive and individual relationships with their customers by providing unprecedented access to real-time, direct feedback.

In less than five minutes, any business, organization or individual can start a conversation with select people or random, diverse populations via mSurvey’s feedback platform – no printed questionnaire, local administrator or long response time needed

mSurvey’s official launch in Nigeria will coincide with the second Customer Loyalty NPS Masterclass, which will be held in Lagos on March 20th and 21st, 2018. Masterclass attendees will learn how to apply the Net Promoter Score (NPS) to measure and boost customer loyalty for their business, which will be hosted by Richard Owen, CEO of Owen CX Group, co-creator of the NPS metric and published author on NPS methodology.

Africa’s Mara Corporation to introduce Mara X, an Android One Phone in Partnership with Google

By
Justice Okamgba
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0
Mara X smartphone

In partnership with Google, Mara Corporation Limited is set to release the Mara X for the African market in the second quarter of 2018. The Mara X will be a one-of-a-kind high-quality, smartphone.

The Mara X will be launched as part of Google’s Android One portfolio, getting a software experience designed by Google to be smart, secure and simply amazing.

The Mara X comes with the latest innovations from Google. It will run the latest operating system, Android 8.0 Oreo; will get two years of OS upgrades; and the device has been optimized for the Google Assistant which is your own personal Google, ready to help throughout your day.

With unlimited high quality photo storage from Google Photos and a carefully curated set of pre-installed apps, the Mara X makes sure African users have enough space for the apps they love. Regular security updates and Google Play Protect built in mean the Mara X is among the most secure devices available.

“Across Africa and in other emerging markets, we need smartphones that are both extremely affordable and high quality,” explained Mara Chairman Jagdish Thakkar . “These phones will give people the ability to improve their lives through accessing information online and using them for trade and financial services.”

Siya Chug, the Brand Director, describes the Mara Phone as a “proudly African brand.” Mara Group began as a small IT business in Uganda, and has since expanded to the globally recognized multi-sector investment group that it is today, employing over 14,000 people across 25 African countries and three continents.

Mara Corporation (www.Mara.com) is also focused on building a digital e-commerce ecosystem to meet the evolving needs of consumers across Africa by investing in key e-commerce enablers like financial technology, social media, last mile logistics and now the Mara X.

“The Mara X is a device that people can have fun with, learn with and use to build a better future. Africa is seeing a new generation of entrepreneurs looking for mobile technology to help run their businesses, and the Mara X will work for them to pursue greater heights. Our continent is expected to have over 700 million smartphones within a few years, and that connectivity will truly transform lives.” – Mara Corporation Founder, Ashish J Thakkar

3 Smart Ways to Use the Autocorrect Feature in Android

By
Emmanuel Dominic
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0

The autocorrect feature can both be a lifesaver and a nightmare. Read on to learn how to smartly use the autocorrect feature to your advantage and avoid embarrassments and give you charge over what finally gets sent out.

Without checking what you type, the autocorrect feature can change a supposed business mail or text to something dirty, hurtful, such that you will feel like taking it back.

The key thing to understand is personalization. Make the words that your autocorrect feature on your phone brings up are yours, how you want and what style as well.

Here are three ways to customize your autocorrect feature.

1. Make your Android dictionary personal; add your choice words, slangs, names, morphemes to your Dictionary.

By default, your dictionary learns you as you continue typing on it. That is, it takes note of the words that you often use and save them. So when it is autocorrecting you, it doesn’t bring up unnecessary predictions.

When you enter a word, and it gets changed or overwritten with a word different from the one you typed; you can revert it back to the originally intended word by pressing the back or delete button. In some cases, you might need to delete the autocorrected word completely and type again. The keyboard will now mark such word wrong or unknown by a red line.

Such word can be added to the dictionary by tapping on the underlined word and tapping the ‘add to dictionary’ to replace or save the entry. Henceforth, your words won’t be autocorrected again.

Maybe your keyboard that doesn’t have the option to double tap and add to dictionary, you will have to go to your phone settings, open Language, and Input, go to the Personal dictionary, use the plus (+) sign to add new words.

2. Customize Third Party Keyboard Apps

It’s a different game when you are using keyboards other than the default android device keyboards. There are different ways to personalize such keyboards because they are from different developers and they also have different layouts.

As stated earlier, these keyboards can actually learn your typing habit and style. They learn, adapt, and take notes of new words or frequent words you use. But in case it doesn’t, you can go to the settings of the particular keyboard type you using and click to add new words. You can also make use of the prediction box that shows just above the keyboard. Such keyboards include Swype, Touchpal, Swiftkey, Flesky etc.

3. Disable or enable the autocorrect feature.

If you feel you do not need any spell checker when you are typing, you can disable the feature completely. It is pretty simple.

Here is how:

  • Settings
  • Language and Input (Keyboard)
  • Spell checker or Google Keyboard
  • Turn the autocorrect button off.
  • The same method is used to turn it on.

Zinox Sets Future Agenda With New TV Commercial

By
Editor
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0

“Our founders had a vision for a greater Nigeria but only a technological disruption will take the nation to the next level.”

The statement above – succinct and thought-provoking – represents one of the driving motivations behind the lofty ambitions of Nigeria’s tech giant, Zinox Technologies Ltd. which featured prominently in a brand new television commercial released by the company last week.

The 60 seconds commercial, which hit the airwaves on Friday March 2nd, 2018 and expected to run for three weeks on a number of stations including Channels TV, Africa Independent Television (AIT), Silverbird TV (STV) and Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), is already attracting a huge number of positive reviews.

The engaging and professionally-executed video is also set to hit the digital space this week.

The commercial opens with the scene of a painter who proceeds to depict on a blank white canvas the landscape of an ultra-modern, technologically-advanced mega city, complete with spectacular high-rise structures, design concepts with floating gardens and parks and intricate transport systems using the latest technology.

As the large mural comes to life, showing movement and giving the viewer the sense of life in this technologically-advanced city, the painter returns to the canvas, this time focusing more closely and delivering a measure of detail with his strokes. At the same time, we are immediately reminded that “our future is in plain sight but it takes those with foresight to see it.”

The commercial proceeds to guide the viewer through the glowing credentials of Zinox: a world-class but Nigerian-based integrated ICT solutions company which has delivered unarguably some of the biggest tech projects on the African continent and with huge capacity to do more.

In addition to the massive structure housing the Zinox headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria, there are shots of the various cutting-edge infrastructure at Zinox, including the digital computer hardware manufacturing and assembly plant, telecoms e-Hub unit, data centre, bandwidth aggregation and digital security infrastructures, Call Centre warehousing facilities as well as after-sales service and support centre, among others.

The company’s multi-pronged status as an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), Integrated ICT Solutions provider, E-commerce Solutions company and as a one-stop shop for Special ICT Projects and much more, is also prominently displayed in the commercial.

The over-riding message in the emotive commercial sees Zinox setting the agenda as a forward-thinking ICT company which believes that only through technology can Nigeria live up to the dreams of its founding fathers and take its rightful place in the comity of other technologically-advanced nations of the world.

While urging the viewer to anticipate the future, Zinox makes bold to declare its ambition of being in the forefront of bringing advanced technologies such as Virtual Reality, Big Data, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, etc. and making them available to every Nigerian.

“Today, we continue to propel Nigeria into the digital future, multiple solutions at a time,” the company affirms, with a rear profile of the Zinox Chairman and serial digital entrepreneur, Leo Stan Ekeh, seen propping up his little grand-daughter and seemingly pointing out the future in the background of a city landscape.

A creatively- executed commercial, Zinox has once again taken the lead in showing the way forward for Nigeria which, despite being undoubtedly blessed with massive human and material resources, remains in a perpetual struggle to convert this huge potential into all-inclusive progress and development for the majority of Nigerians.

Tech Trends: Reviving The STEM Education Culture In Nigeria [Video]

By
Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata Jnr
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0

On this edition of Tech Trends show on Channels Television, the Interview segment focused on reviving the STEM education culture in Nigeria, with Adetola Salau, Executive Director, Charisma4U Educational Foundation on the interview seat.

You can watch more on .

Airing time of Tech Trends on Channels TV can be found here.

Dealing with issues of Missing Devices [ICT Clinic]

By
Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata Jnr
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0

Recently, a friend came to me, looking utterly distraught. “My phone is gone!” he declared. His sadness and worries were clearly visible and palpable. He lost a pricey smartphone and worse still, he had no backup of all his important data.

This was a phone that had all his entire business and personal life data including emails, photos, files, etc. I guess he was scared about the fact that anyone with good technical knowledge could find a way into his private world, either by exploring his financial information or using his social media profiles to scam others.

Losing a smartphone is hardly a pleasant experience, especially, if the device is one of those high-end ones that are pretty expensive. It becomes more painful if the data in a lost device are not properly backed up.

My friend obviously had a million reasons in this world to feel like a chicken with its head cut off! He had gone to the bank and placed the phone on a bench as he was filling out some forms.

A couple of minutes after leaving the banking hall, he remembered that he no longer had possession of his phone. He rushed back to the bank, but his frantic search for his phone device was not successful.

The members of staff at the bank also tried to help out by going through the CCTV footage of the bank for the period he was in the banking hall, but due to the heavy human traffic in the banking hall at that period, nothing conclusive was discovered.

There is no doubt that these days, our smartphones and tablets are very important and precious to us. This is because almost everything about us is stored on our phones or on the cloud somewhere through our phones and if such information should get into the wrong hands, we are capable of ending up in a sorry situation.

It is important to point out that when our smartphones get stolen, we do not only risk our privacy being invaded, we also risk the phone being used for illegal activities which can be traced back to us and whatever be the case, damage control can be very expensive.

My opinion is that if you lose a device, the very least activity you should aim for is to erase your data even if it’s not possible to retrieve it. The following steps will serve as a guide, if you smartphone is stolen or lost and we are — Finish Reading on the Punch

My 7 years of Using Smartphone, What I have observed.

By
Justice Okamgba
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0

Early 2000, Nigeria began to witness a huge revolution in communication. South Africa’s telecommunication giant, MTN, came into the Nigerian market before the emergence of Glo Nigeria and the rest of them.

The first device I used was Nokia 1110 (Feature phone), having bought SIM card for a few thousand, today, it’s almost free. What a world! Meanwhile, lots of people killed themselves because of all these things.

After the reign of feature phones, which are still in existence; smartphone came on board. And that became almost the highest point of innovation in the telecommunications sector, especially in Nigeria.

The demand for smartphones, obviously, had deepened over the years. And for the past seven years of using smartphones, I observed a few things that were wrong. Sadly, most people still make these mistakes.

Overnight charging

Although there is a setup on phones that allows it to stop charging when it is full, constant overnight charging of phones is wrong.

Using wrong Accessories

Every manufacturer of smartphones has their specific type of accessories that are to be used with a particular product. Most people use wrong accessories such as chargers, USB, etc. which is wrong.

The primary reason for this is because such accessories are cheaper than the original and authentic ones.

Use of Live Homepage Wallpapers

Using live wallpaper looks cool. But, we are working with a battery that needs to be often fed. This continually drains the battery, even when background light is off.

Downloading and Installing too many Antivirus

Some time ago, when my friend gave me his phone to help him resolve an issue, I saw that he had up to 4 antiviruses. I was amazed. This is wrong. Some of these apps are the free versions and are not updated.

Charging and using the phone simultaneously

This one is prevalent. Loading of your phone and making use of it at the same time is very wrong.

Aside from the fact that the battery will get spoilt, we keep moving the phone while it is plugged, this makes the contact point of the charger to be shaking, which then leads to it being shortened.

Network Connections Always on

Connections include NFC, Bluetooth, Wifi, Data connection, Location. This cuts your battery life by half.

Downloading anything downloadable

Most phone users download everything they find, especially ads that pop up on browsers. This is wrong

Ausso Leadership Academy Seeks to Revamp, and Inject New Entrepreneurial Ideas

By
Justice Okamgba
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0
Austin Okere

The Entrepreneurial elite of Nigeria has come together under the umbrella of the Ausso Leadership Academy (ALA) to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem with personalized mentorship to maximize jobs created by entrepreneurs to ensure shared prosperity. This has been inspired by the unprecedented success in entrepreneurship at Silicon Valley, which has been underpinned by a strong mentorship culture.

ALA aims to Impact at least 200 Entrepreneurs each year in cohorts of 40 per Masterclass, with the first Masterclass coming on stream as early as April and for which registration has commenced. It is expected that the entrepreneurs will achieve double-digit growth in their Revenue a year after impact and would have imbibed a code of Governance and a culture of Succession and Legacy.

Nigeria is at a point when the ecosystem is visibly maturing and entrepreneurial opportunities are vastly increasing. ALA’s goal is to drive economic development through high-impact entrepreneurs, who will become a strong economic force that can take advantage of the opportunities to transform the country.

According to the promoter of ALA, Austin Okere, “One of the cardinal principles of the Ausso Leadership Academy is to instill the mentality of building a Solid Structure for the business with more emphasis on Institutionalization than the concept of an All-Knowing Strongman; an erroneous concept which has led to the demise of many enterprises after the departure of the founder.”

Austin Okere was also the founder of CWG Plc (NSE: CWG), the largest security in the ICT Sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Austin has subsequently honed his craft in Entrepreneurial Executive Education, becoming an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Columbia Business School, New York and being appointed into the Advisory Board of the Global Business School Network (GBSN) in Washington DC.

On what inspired him to set up the Academy, Austin explained: “Being a serial entrepreneur, it was intuitive for me to conceive the idea of the Ausso Leadership Academy and the unique differentiation it offers.” He continued “the first inspiration was what I would have advised my younger self, and the second inspiration was to be the Mentor I wish I had.”

The huge gap in the entrepreneurial ecosystem is due to the lack of a personalized mentorship program to complement what professors teach entrepreneurs at business schools. Entrepreneurs are best mentored by other entrepreneurs who understand the trailblazing journey and how to spot opportunities from challenges and create new businesses for themselves and others.

The need for resourcefulness and an innovative mindset to reinvent oneself when disruption knocks on the door is a key skill which entrepreneurs need to imbibe. ALA provides the medium for Veteran Entrepreneurs to pass on this experiential skill, emphasizing what has worked in their own journeys, and the pitfalls to avoid.

The Champions of Entrepreneurship are role models who reinvest their knowledge, credibility and time in the next generation of entrepreneurs, thus multiplying their network and influence. Among the Champions who will be sharing their experience are Ibukun Awosika, Aigboje Aig-Imokhuede, Tony Elumelu, John Momoh, Frank Aigbogun, Austin Avuru, Dotun Suleiman, Ndidi Nwuneli, Ernest Ndukwe, Mitchel Elegbe, Charles Anudu, Seyi Bickerseth and Deji Alli to mention a few.

The Faculty are seasoned practitioners who have also honed their skills working with entrepreneurs in various capacities. They include Austin Okere, Chris Stephenson, Opeyemi Agbaje and Rasheed Olaoluwa. On why he accepted to be a faculty at ALA, Chris said “Austin is one of Africa’s leading Tech Entrepreneurs, and I’ve been working with him since 2010. I want to get behind his exciting new venture and continue our partnership.”

He continued “I would recommend the Academy to prospective participants because Entrepreneurs need a clear Vision and Operational Plan with which to inspire colleagues, investors and other stakeholders. The Academy will bring them the thinking, approaches, tips and tricks that its faculty have all learned the hard way. More importantly, it will provide them with the framework, network and above all confidence for success, whatever their venture.”

According to Opeyemi Agbaje, he bought into the program because he believes that “efforts to tackle corruption must recognize its socio-economic linkages, especially poverty and unemployment. An effective and sustainable anti-corruption strategy must be anchored in the context of an ambitious economic reform program that creates employment in large numbers to foster inclusive economic growth. This is what I believe the Ausso Leadership Academy brings to the table and why I want to contribute my quota.”

Rasheed Olawoluwa, on the other hand, says “Entrepreneurial Leadership is incomplete without a Vision and a strong ability to Influence People to get Results. This is what we aim to impart at the Ausso Leadership Academy.”

The Ausso Leadership Academy recognizing that capital is essential to scaling has entered into partnerships with Investors including the African Wealth Partners AG of Switzerland to offer opportunities for capital to entrepreneurs who successfully articulate their growth plans.

According to Martin Emodi, Founding Partner of the Africa Wealth Partners, “We were seriously impressed by the practical leadership development programme Mr Okere is putting together for Nigerian entrepreneurs. It is so important to give the entrepreneurs the tools and support to take their businesses to the next level. This will be good business for all involved but most importantly for the country and its development.”

He continued “We are delighted to partner with the Ausso Leadership Academy and contribute to this laudable initiative. We believe strongly in long-term partnerships and we are convinced we have found such a partner in Austin Okere and the Ausso Leadership Academy.”

Clarifying the perceived ‘Premium Recruitment’ of the ALA First Masterclass, Austin Okere said “We are looking to work with entrepreneurs that have the potential and capability to become leaders in their sectors, and are willing to invest to achieve this. The goal is to crystalize a multiplier effect, as the first cohort of entrepreneurs, by their success, will become beacons to other aspiring high growth entrepreneurs”.

Google Unveils New Job Search Experience to Help Nigerians

By
Justice Okamgba
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0

Google announced a new job Search experience that aims to help job seekers find employment opportunities. For the first time, when someone uses their phone or computer to search on Google for a job, they will see a streamlined experience letting them explore, research and find relevant, local job postings.

This launch builds on Google’s existing commitment in Sub Saharan Africa to improve economic opportunities for job seekers and employers, demonstrated through its Grow with Google initiatives. The Digital Skills for Africa program, Google’s commitment to train 1m African youth between April 2016 and March 2017, was achieved and surpassed. In July 2017 this program was extended to see 10m youth trained by 2022 as well as 100,000 developers trained across the region.

Speaking at the launch in Nigeria, Google Country Director, Juliet Ehimuan Chiazor says, “Finding employment is still very difficult for many people. This new job Search experience will help the millions of Nigerians searching for new opportunities. We believe that the web allows anyone, anywhere, of any age, to grow their business, learn the skills they need to get a job, to grow in their career, become an entrepreneur or developer. This new jobs Search tool will be a key driver for connecting job seekers to open opportunities, helping more people to Grow with Google.”

As of today, job seekers in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria will be able to use the new job search experience to help them quickly and easily find opportunities suited to them, through an immersive experience that lets them explore jobs from across the web and refine their search to meet their specific needs.

Users will able to view at-a-glance details about the posting, such as job title, location, whether it’s full-time, part-time or an internship, as well as detailed information should a job be of interest. Using Google Maps integration, job seekers can search for jobs any place they can find on the map, and if they’re signed in, they can even see how long it would take to commute to the job from home.

Searching for a new job can take time, so if you step away from your job search, Google has made it easy to pick up where you left off as well as stay in the loop on opportunities that are right for you. Simply push the “get alerts” button to get email notifications when new jobs matching your search appear.

As this is an open ecosystem, Google is inviting all job sites, platforms and employers — big and small — to integrate with us and make their jobs eligible to display in the new jobs search experience. With Google’s newly released open documentation, any jobs provider is able to integrate its content through open structured schema.org web markup standards Google supports.

To optimise the feature and make it more useful, Google is working with a broad and growing cross-section of partners, such as the Federal Government, Jobberman, NGCareers, MyJobMag and other job resource websites in Nigeria. These collaborations ensure Google is able to present job postings content accurately, as soon as it is posted, to exactly the people that will find it most relevant.

“The launch of this new jobs Search experience is part of our broader commitment to improve economic opportunities for job seekers and employers through Google technologies in partnership with the broader employment industry. Google is committed to providing useful, accurate and relevant information based on your search queries and helping you connect to your next job. In this way we hope to make a contribution towards matching job seekers with jobs and taking steps to tackle the skills gap,” Ehimuan Chiazor comments.

Speaking at the launch event, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation & Youth Employment, Afolabi Imoukhuede commented that: “The Federal Government of Nigeria under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has prioritised Job Creation for the teeming unemployed and underemployed youths as contained in the Job Creation Strategy section of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). It is therefore our pleasure to endorse and partner Google on this job Search experience launch that seeks to connect job seekers to jobs.”

In addition to its Digital Skills initiative and the new jobs Search experience, Google also supports tech startups at various stages of their lifecycle through the Launchpad program. Announced last year, Launchpad Accelerator Africa will provide over $3 million in equity-free funding, mentorship, working space and access to expert advisers to over 60 African startups over 3 years. Intensive 3-month programs, held twice per year, will run out of a new Google Launchpad Space in Lagos – the program’s first location outside of the United States.

Web developers wanting to index their job listings with Google can find a walk-through by visiting .

How to Fix iPhone 6 & 6s Speaker Issue

By
Emmanuel Dominic
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0

Users of the iPhone 6 and 6s have reportedly experienced problems with the speaker. While on a call, the caller on the other end of the line hears them, but they just can’t hear anything. Some users can hear only when the phone is placed on the loudspeaker. We will look at fixes for this problem.

Please be reminded that this is not a hardware issue solution. If what’s wrong with your speaker is because of a faulty hardware, then you need to take it to technicians for replacement with correct parts.

First of all, do the following to be sure your iPhone is in the proper state.

  • Check if the volume of the phone isn’t turned low. Increase it to the maximum by pressing the plus (+) till it reaches the top. Then make a call or test to see if its good.
  • Check if your device is not in silent mode if you are using iPhone 7. Go to the keys where you add and reduce the volume and see if a red mark is showing. If it’s showing, then your phone is on silent mode and needs to be moved.

Solutions:

1. Unpair all Other Connected Apple Sound Device.

Check if your phone isn’t connected to an external audio device. Make sure such connections, example, Airplay or Bluetooth speakers. Chances are that you have forgotten that you made such connections. Also, know it connects back automatically when within range.

2. Update your iOS if there is any

Most fixes for bugs are sent in updates. Check if there is any update to your OS and make the upgrade. Most times this makes the miracle. Chances are that Apple has known about the speaker issue and worked out a fix.

3. Re-Setup you phone

Ok, I will agree this isn’t friendly. But it is one sure way of correcting any issue on your iPhone. Set up your phone as if it’s a new one. Remember to do a backup. To be always on the safe side and not lose your precious data.

4. Roll back to an Earlier Backup

Try and recollect when you started experiencing the speaker problem. If it was after you made an upgrade, try to go back to the previous state it was. Restore your device to an earlier version or state, at least things were working better.

5. Is your iPhone in Headphone Mode?

Check if your phone is lost in the headphone mode. You might know about it, it is very common.

We had posted a guide on how to get your phone out of the headphone mode.

Conclusion.

If the above steps didn’t work, please consider reaching out to Apple support for help.

Software solutions won’t work for a hardware problem. So be sure it is not a hardware issue. You might consider using a headset if you like

4 Simple Ways to Solve iPhone Stucked on Headphone Mode

By
Emmanuel Dominic
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0

When an iPhone is jammed or stuck in headphone mode, it means that it is still reading (headphone or earpiece is connected) meanwhile, to you have removed or disconnected it. Read on for ways to solve this issue.

This is why it is good to use good headsets and headphones. This might be the cause of the problem. Although it is not quite certain why it happens, could be a hardware problem or the OS.

I am going to be using the words *headphones*, *earpiece* and or *headsets* interchangeably in this post. I am referring to the same thing.

Here are possible solutions to the problem

1. Use another Headphone/Earpiece

Maybe it is indeed the earpiece that is the trouble here. Try to use another earpiece with your iPhone and see if it gets out of the Headphone Mode. Remember to avoid using a cheap and fake earpiece. They cause more harm than good in the long run.

2. Connect and Re-connect the earpiece.

Plug your earpiece to your phone and remove it. Try to repeat this process carefully. When you plug it, check for the headphone mode icon on your screen; remove it to see if it will go away. These most times do the magic. Chances are that your iPhone didn’t detect the initial unplugging on the headphone

3. Clean the Port, and Restart your Phone

Be careful when doing this step as any mistake might worsen the situation. You will need a flashlight, a sharp strong object, like a toothpick or needle, soft material like wool. Clean the inside of the port carefully. Then do a restart and hopefully, it solves the problem.

Can your business thrive in the digital age?

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Why modern technology should be your most valued business partner. By Soromfe Uzomah – Partner Business Development Manager at Microsoft 4Afrika.

In 2013, three local university friends had an idea to start a business. They knew that Nigerian music was popular across the continent. They knew that people were increasingly downloading music through mobile. But, they also knew that paying for digital downloads was complicated and inconvenient, which meant that people were opting for free illegal downloads.

And so, they created MyMusic.com.ng, a digital music platform that lets users download high quality local music, using a convenient payment channel – their mobile airtime.

The company started growing fast, but soon reached a point where they didn’t have the infrastructure to support their growth. That’s when they partnered with Microsoft to build a more resilient and scalable platform as the backbone of their product.

Leveraging Microsoft’s cloud technology and its related services, MyMusic has now integrated data analytics, machine learning and augmented reality into their product. This has allowed them to understand their consumer behavior, recommend songs based on history and preferences, and build a chat bot to help users discover new music.

With this technology behind them, MyMusic has grown to over 700,000 active users – and is aiming for one million.

What does it take to survive in the digital age?

Across the continent, we are beginning to see businesses such as MyMusic make the critical strategic decisions needed to not only survive but also thrive in this digital age. Here’s why:

1: They understand that today’s modern market expects technology-driven services.

A large number of today’s consumers have grown up using technology and the internet. According to the Africa Report, millennials account for over a third of Africa’s population and the impact they are having on business is beginning to be felt. For those who haven’t, they are looking for solutions that get them connected. If you want to be relevant and appeal to today’s audience, technology has to be a key part of your business. MyMusic understands that people are always on their mobile phones – and plays into that space. Whether you develop a mobile app or online shop, you should be using technology to offer your customers a better, more intuitive and convenient experience. They expect it.

2: They embrace modern technology to grow.

Start-ups and small business enterprises often battle to compete with larger firms, who have large servers and expensive IT infrastructure that enable them to do more. Cloud technology levels this playing field. With all the business data stored in the cloud, small businesses have access to the same technology capabilities as large enterprises without the high costs.

This doesn’t only save you money, but also keeps your product affordable for your consumers too. This can lower barriers to entry and provide a more competitively priced product. This affordability advantage has helped local healthcare start-up, access.mobile, expand from East Africa to Nigeria. More healthcare clinics can afford to implement their cloud-based eHealth solution – and African IT decision makers in the industry are attracted to the world-class infrastructure. As a result, access.mobile’s solution is currently used in over 150 healthcare facilities, reaching two million patients.

What’s more, because the cloud can process more and be accessed by anyone, anywhere, it enables businesses to grow and scale across markets much faster.

3: They use modern technology to better understand their consumers and improve their product, giving them a competitive edge

The massive computing power and storage capabilities of the cloud means businesses can gather and process huge amounts of data

MoVAS Group is a great example of this. With the cloud, they gather and analyze data on each user, assess their credit worthiness and give them a loan in three to five seconds. This fintech start-up issues loans to small business owners, youth and farmers, all through mobile phones. MoVAS currently has over 12 million users in Kenya, Malawi, Ghana, Somalia, Congo Brazzaville and Swaziland – and issues tens of thousands of loans across Africa every day.

The result? A 300% jump in lending.

In this way, the company hopes to be able to onboard new clients in a matter of two or three weeks rather than the usual three months.

Having the skills to make the most out of technology

This is where having the skills to successfully work with modern technology becomes important. A business can move into the cloud and gather all the data it wants. However, without the skills to successfully navigate cloud technology, turn data into intelligent actions and continually optimize products, it is unlikely to derive the benefits of its investments.

Businesses looking to thrive in the digital age should have employees who are digitally literate. This includes having skills in data analytics; cloud computing; software development and programming.

Developing and finding these skills is often a challenge, but there are initiatives in place to help. Tech giants, for example, are launching online learning platforms in Africa, where entrepreneurs can develop high-level digital skills for free. In West Africa, Microsoft – through its 4Afrika Initiative – is running an AppFactory and internship programme, and working with local start-ups, to both develop and supply small businesses with digital literacy skills.

Through the Nigeria and Ghana AppFactories, ICT graduates are becoming skilled software engineers, developing technology solutions, web applications and data dashboards for corporate and start-up companies. Interns, through these initiatives, are being employed as full-time technical support engineers at local ICT firms. In addition, we have recently entered into a new strategic partnership with Tony Elumelu Foundation, to support entrepreneurs in Nigeria – and beyond – with technology, training and mentorship.

As we develop more of these skills locally, businesses will have increased access to the talent they need to make the most of their technology investments.

Giving technology a thought

Africa is fast approaching the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where technology is impacting every economy and industry. Businesses, large or small, can choose to lead this transformation and gain competitive advantage, or be left behind.

If businesses hope to lead in the digital age, they need to implement modern technology and skills that will make them relevant and give them a competitive edge. With the intelligent tools to uncover new insights, address future problems, adapt to changing business environments, better serve customers and make more informed business decisions, your business can be unstoppable.

Mastercard Uses Facebook Messenger to Help Small Businesses Go Digital

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At Mobile World Congress (www.MobileWorldCongress.com), Mastercard (www.Mastercard.com) today announced that it will use Facebook Messenger to provide technology to small businesses in Africa and Asia to drive affordable acceptance of electronic and mobile payments. Access to digital payments will help these businesses expand to new markets, and unlock financial services and products that enables them to grow their livelihoods.

This Messenger experience will launch in Nigeria, where Mastercard will pilot a new Masterpass QR (https://Masterpass.com) bot to help business owners’ move beyond cash transactions to accepting QR payments. Ecobank (www.Ecobank.com) and Zenith Bank will support this inaugural program. The pilot in Nigeria is the beginning of a larger plan by the two companies to include more businesses into the digital economy.

According to research done by The Fletcher School and Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, of the $301 billion of funds flow from consumers to businesses in Nigeria, 98 percent is still based on cash.

“Every business owner is looking for ways to increase sales and draw new customers into their stores. By offering QR-based digital payments, smaller retailers can achieve these goals and create greater customer stickiness with little to no investment beyond the phone they already have,” said Jorn Lambert, Executive Vice President, Digital Channels and Regions, Mastercard. “Masterpass QR opens up new commerce channels for these merchants and enables them to create auditable transaction records. These advances open doors to other financial tools and products such as loans to drive added business growth.”

To get started, businesses can send a request to the bot to enable QR payments, receive approval from the bank, set up an account and start accepting digital payments in a fast, simple and secure manner. Once the account set up process is complete, business owners can print and display the QR code in their stores or save the code on their phones. Customers can pay by either scanning the code from their smartphone or by entering the merchant ID associated with the QR code into their feature phone.

“Brands and developers around the world are turning to messaging to connect with the 1.3 billion people who use Messenger each month,” said Kahina Van Dyke, Director of Payments and Financial Services Partnerships at Facebook. “We are pleased that Mastercard is developing a service on the Messenger Platform to help small merchants use messaging to manage their business and connect with their customers.”

Launched in 2016, Masterpass QR provides people with any type of mobile phone the ability to safely accept and make in-person purchases without cash or a plastic card. It provides greater choice in payments and complements Mastercard’s investment in contactless payments to provide merchants of all sizes – from international chains to individual shop owners and street vendors – a fast, secure and inexpensive way to accept payments.

How to Know if your Sent Email was Read or not

By
Justice Okamgba
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We are sometimes curious to know if the recipient of our email has read our email or not. It could be because we are waiting for feedback but it’s not coming forth, as well as other reasons.

Mostly, the only way we get to know that our emails have been read is when the person replies or gives a feedback in any other way.

Unlike text messages and social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, when a recipient receives a message, it ticks “read”, this feature is not readily possible in Gmail.

In this article, we will look at a tool that will enable us to know if our sent emails were read or not. We will discuss methods such as Hubspot Sale, Email Tracker, and Gmail Mailtrack. We will learn how to install them also how to use them.

These are just add-ons and extension. You don’t need a lot of technical know-how because it is easy and we will walk you through it. All of them have one basic way of installing.

Hubspot Sales Gmail Add-on.

We assume you are using a Google Chrome Browser. It even comes by default in smartphones these days.

  • Launch Chrome Browser
  • Go to Chrome Webstore
  • Type and search for Hubspot Sale in the search box.
  • Click the Add-to-Chrome option when it opens up

After successfully installing the extension, sign in to it using your Gmail account that you want to track.

Gmail’s Mailtracker/Gmail Tracker

These are also downloaded and installed using the same steps above in Hubspot. But when you are searching in the Webstore, search for Mailtracker if it is the one you want to use, same goes for the Gmail Tracker.

You don’t have to use all three at once. Just stick to the one you find convenient for you.

Now you can track your sent emails to see if it has been read or not.

NCC Revokes Operator’s License Over Call Masking

By
Justice Okamgba
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The Nigerian telecom Industry regulator is not playing pranks with the issue of call masking and refilling, as media reports show that the licenses of operators involved in this menace have been seized.

The Nigerian Communications Commission frowns against any attempts by callers to hide their true numbers when making calls, especially international calls which are not charged because the caller’s identity is completely hidden in the network.

The NCC had earlier cautioned Medallion Communications Limited, Interconnect Clearing House Nigeria Limited, Niconnx Communications Limited, Breeze Micro Limited, Solid Interconnectivity and Exchange Telecommunications Limited that they might lose their operational licenses for involving in call masking and refilling.

Its Director of Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo, said the commission suspended the Interconnect Clearing House license issued to Medallion Communications for 90 days and issued a strong warning to Interconnect Clearing House.

NCC also announced the disconnection of Information Connectivity Solutions Limited (ICSL) and Solid Interconnectivity Services Limited from all networks, until they regularise their operations.

The Guardian reported that the Commission also issued letters to Exchange Telecoms Limited, Niconnx Limited and Breeze Micro Limited, warning them against engaging in the practice.

“It said its investigations and subsequent sanctioning came because it was inundated with complaints from service providers and consumers regarding the high incidence of call masking, refilling, and SIM-Boxing.

According to the NCC, complaints generally involved disguising international calls as local calls in order to profit from price differentials between international and local calls.”

Facebook Partners FATE Foundation to Offer Month-Long Bootcamps for Entrepreneur

By
Justice Okamgba
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0

Facebook, in partnership with FATE Foundation, is set to hold the 2018 edition of the Aspiring Entrepreneurs Digital Program, a free four-week bootcamp for select entrepreneurs in seven cities across Nigeria. Participants will learn the fundamentals of digital marketing for business coupled with key entrepreneurship skills designed to improve their businesses.

As one of many high-profile partnerships by Facebook, the trainings are aimed at helping to develop and nurture communities, including small businesses, the tech and start-up ecosystem, youths and creatives in Nigeria.

Open to participants between the ages of 18-35 years, those selected, will be able to attend the program which will roll-out in seven cities in Nigeria:

  • Abuja: March 12 – April 6, 2018
  • Ibadan: April 16 – May 11, 2018
  • Port Harcourt: May 21 – June 15, 2018
  • Lagos: June 25 – July 20, 2018
  • Calabar: July 30 – August 24, 2018
  • Kaduna: September 3 – September 28, 2018
  • Enugu: October 8 – November 2, 2018

“At Facebook, our mission is clear: to give people the power to build communities and bring the world closer. With this initiative, we are shaping entrepreneurs and future business leaders to promote innovation, job readiness and digital literacy in order to ensure that we have a positive impact on Nigeria’s economy and society,” commented Ebele Okobi, Facebook Public Policy Director, Africa.

The program will be broken into streams which will run four times a week (Mondays to Thursdays) over a four-week period, in the form of practical workshops and learning sessions – all with a strong digital marketing component in the curriculum.

Lectures will cover Business Model Canvas, Business Plan Development, Budgeting, Financial Management and Financial Reporting, Marketing and Pricing Strategies, People Management, Raising Financing, Business Pitching, and Digital Marketing which includes using Facebook Business Tools.

Commenting on the partnership Adenike Adeyemi, Executive Director, FATE Foundation said: “We believe programmes like this are vital to building and developing the skills of the next generation of entrepreneurs in Nigeria. At the heart of what we do is harnessing the already strong entrepreneurial culture of Nigerians, whilst providing the knowledge and support required to fully explore their innovative potential, and we look forward to working with Facebook to help achieve this.”

Graduates will also have an opportunity to receive mentorship from Fate Foundation for a year along with other program incentives.

Interested participants are to register here: http://www.fatefoundation.org/aep/

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